Detroit Lions - TeamReport

August 05, 2013|Reuters

NFL Team Report - Detroit Lions - INSIDE SLANT

This is a bad year to be a developmental player in the Lions' camp.

If you are a sixth- or seventh-round draft pick, this year or last year, if you are an undrafted rookie, if you are inexperienced and unproven, your potential or your upside might not be enough to keep you on the 53-man roster.

Why? Because for coach Jim Schwartz and his staff, perhaps for general manager Martin Mayhew, too, there may not be a future beyond this year. They aren't talking about it. There isn't an aura of desperation surrounding this training camp. But they see owner William Clay Ford Sr., making a point to visit the first day of camp, something he hadn't done the last couple of years. They see Bill Ford Jr., showing up almost daily.

Schwartz and Mayhew fully understand what's at stake this season. They are in their fifth season together and they know their regime will be in peril if they bomb in 2013 like they did in 2012.

Mayhew reiterated last Tuesday what he's said since the end of last season: Of course there's urgency. There is urgency for every general manager and coach every year, but there is a special sense of urgency coming off a 4-12 season.

For them, there is no point in worrying about 2014 or 2015. Just about every move the team has made, in free agency and the draft, has been about getting better now, this season. Running back Reggie Bush, safety Glover Quin, defensive end Israel Idonije -- these are immediate impact guys, on the field and in the locker room.

They rolled the dice giving safety Louis Delmas an incentive-laden two-year deal despite his injury issues. Why? Because if there is any way they can keep him on the field, he is a difference-maker. It's a low-risk, potentially high-reward chance.

Yes, they drafted a raw athlete in defensive end Ziggy Ansah with the fifth overall pick. But they feel his size and skill set are good enough to contribute immediately, even if he has to learn some of the finer points of the position on the job.

The other high draft picks - cornerback Darius Slay, guard Larry Warford, punter Sam Martin, defensive end Devin Taylor - were drafted to help immediately. Last season, the Lions drafted players like Chris Greenwood, Ronnell Lewis and Jonte Green, figuring they would probably have to redshirt them for a season. The only player they drafted with that in mind this year was receiver Corey Fuller.

Certainly the best 53 players will make the team. But where maybe last season -- when 21 of 22 starters returned off a 10-6 playoff season - the Lions were inclined to keep developmental guys like Greenwood, Kellen Moore, Lewis and Doug Hogue at the start of the season. This year they may not.

There is no guarantee, for example, that Greenwood and Lewis will make the team. There is no guarantee that seventh-round picks Michael Williams and Brandon Hepburn will make the team. Sixth-round pick Theo Riddick, too, is no lock, either.

Do you really think Schwartz wants to go into this season, of all seasons, with a kicker who has never played in an organized American football game at any level? Havard Rugland can kick as many 58-yarders in practice as he wants. Barring injury or an unforeseen falloff, David Akers is going to be the kicker.

At linebacker, the final spot could come down to veteran Cory Greenwood and Hepburn. Even if the Lions think Hepburn has a lot of upside, he's probably not ready to contribute much this year. Greenwood, on the other hand, is a seasoned and productive special teams player. If Ashlee Palmer wins the left outside linebacker spot, Greenwood could replace him on the cover units.

At cornerback, can the Lions afford to keep Greenwood, who still needs another year to learn the position, over more experienced players like DeQuan Menzie or Dominique Johnson? Maybe Greenwood will be a starting-caliber player in two or three years; how much can Schwartz and Mayhew allow that to factor into the decision on final cuts?

The Lions already released developmental safety Ricardo Silva, who started six games last season. The presence of veteran Chris Hope is a large reason for that.

The tight end cuts might be the most intriguing. Williams is a blocking tight end. He was drafted with the idea that he'd replace Will Heller as the third tight end and H-back. But in camp thus far, the Lions have been using fullbacks Montell Owens and Shaun Chapas in two-back sets more than an H-back.

The team also signed 6-7 Joseph Fauria from UCLA immediately after the draft, and brought in Matt Veldman, a diversely skilled player who spent last season injured with Jacksonville.

Those two, plus returning starters Brandon Pettigrew and Tony Scheffler, give them conceivably four tight ends who could contribute this season. Veldman and Williams seem to be long-shots at this point, but what happens if Scheffler, who is in the last year of his contract, scuffles in the exhibition games?